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I reached the chancel,-nought was changed:
The altar decently arranged,--

The pure white cloth above the shrine,—
The consecrated bread and wine,-

All was the same.-I found no trace

Of sorrow in that holy place.

One hurried glance I downward gave,—
My foot was on my brother's grave!

And years have passed-and thou art now
Forgotten in thy silent tomb;—

And cheerful is my mother's brow,-
My father's eye has lost its gloom,-
And years have passed and death has laid
Another victim by thy side;

With thee he roams, an infant shade,

But not more pure than thee he died.
Blest are ye both! Your ashes rest
Beside the spot ye loved the best;

And that dear home, which saw your birth,
O'erlooks you in your bed of earth.
But who can tell what blissful shore
Your angel-spirits wander o'er !
And who can tell what raptures high
Now bless your immortality!

My boyish days are nearly gone,—
My breast is not unsullied now;

And worldly cares and woes will soon
Cut their deep furrows on my brow,—

And life will take a darker hue

From ills my brother never knew ;

And I have made me bosom friends,

And loved and linked my heart with others;

But who with mine his spirit blends,

As mine was blended with my brother's!

When years of rapture glided by

The spring of life's unclouded weather,

Our souls were knit, and thou and I,

My brother, grew in love together.

The chain is broke that bound us then ;-
When shall I find its like again!

The Etonian.

ON THE RECEIPT OF A LETTER.

BY THE REV. GEORGE CRABBE.

THROUGH many a year the Merchant views,
With steady eye, his distant gains;
Right on, his object he pursues,

And what he seeks, in time, obtains:
So he some distant prospect sees,
Who gazes on a Patron's smiles,
And if he finds it hard to please,
That pleasant view his cares beguiles.

Not such my fate-what years disclose,
And piece-meal on such minds bestow,
The lively joys, the grievous woes!
Shall this tremendous instant show:-
Concentred hopes and fears I feel,

As on the verge of fate I stand,
In sight of Fortune's rapid wheel,
And with the ticket in my hand.

No intermediate good can rise,

And feeble compensation make;
"Tis one dread blank, or one rich prize;
And life's grand hope is now at stake!
Where all is lost, or all is won,

That can distress, that can delight;

Oh! how will rise Tomorrow's Sun

On him who draws his fate To-night! Literary Gazette.

ON A CHILD PLAYING.

SWEET bud, that by and by shall be a flower;
Young star, that just hath broken on our eye;
Pure spring, ere long to grow a stream of power;
First dawn of Hope, that soon shall flame out high
Into the mid arch of the golden sky;

I love, young fawn, to see thee sport; and yet
Such contemplation breeds but vain regret.

Let the proud mother smile to see thy ways,
And once again forget herself in thee;—
Let the proud father eke the mother's praise,
But, graver, place thee fondly on his knee,
And vainly prophecy what thou shalt be—
Pleased with the tongueless eloquence, that lies
Still silent, in thy clear blue laughing eyes.

Let them enjoy-whilst yet they can enjoy ;
And, infant son of Time, do thou smile on,
Deem not for aye to be the favourite boy;

Take what thou can'st, or ere thy time is gone,
For still the darling is the youngest son;
And thou shalt quickly sorrow sore to see
Another, younger still, supplanting thee.

Though many a high presage be cast upon thee,—
Though many a mouth be diligent to praise thee,—
Though Beauty pine until that she hath won thee,-
Though worship, wheresoe'er thou goest, delays thee,—
Though Fate and Fortune emulate to raise thee,—
Yet all the thronging honours that surround thee
Shall not avail thee, since that Care hath found thee.

Time's train is lacqueyed still by weariness;

What boots the crownlet of o'er-flattered gold,
Or gemmed Tiara, if they cannot bless

Or soothe the aching brows that they enfold?
What boots it to wax honourably old,

If 'tis the end of every hope and vow,
To yearn to be again as thou art now !

Oh! 'tis a thriftless bargain of a life,

To live to know that bliss is but pretenceThat gaining nothing in this earthly strife, We only toil to forfeit innocence !—

The profit nothing, but remorse the expense! Or that fond grief, that wearies of its state, And pines for toys and gauds worn out of date.

Thou art an old pretender, grey-beard Age;

Thou boastest much, and yet art but a cheat; And those who toil upon thy pilgrimage,

Would turn again with no unwilling feet :Yea, dewy clouds to evening are most meet. If smiles be Youth's, sure tears are Age's sign, As suns that rise in smiles, in tears decline. Blackwood's Magazine.

T. D.

ON AN OLD ENGRAVING OF A NUN.

'Tis a most wondrous mockery of life!

A dirty scroll, and lined with dirtier ink,

Is all I gaze upon; and yet how rife

With beauty and devotion! One might drink
From those meek, pensive lips, and drooping eyes

Love that would lift a demon to the skies,
Or plant an Eden on Destruction's brink!

Sure, on her saintly smile we need but look

To read the entrancing promise of that Book
Which in one hand she clasps; and dare we think

Of virgin youth and loveliness, and bliss

Too heavenly for a world so fallen as this,—

But no-still, still be the fair fingers prest

Upon those hallowed folds that curtain her pure breast.

LORD BYRON'S LATEST VERSES.

Missolonghi, January 22, 1824.

"On this day I complete my thirty-sixth year."

'Tis time this heart should be unmoved, Since others it hath ceased to move; Yet though I cannot be beloved,

Still let me love.

My days are in the yellow leaf,

The flowers and fruits of love are gone,

The worm, the canker, and the grief,

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The hope, the fear, the jealous care,
Th' exalted portion of the pain,
And power of love, I cannot share;

But wear the chain.

But 'tis not thus-it is not here

Such thoughts should shake my soul; nor now, Where glory seals the hero's bier,

Or binds his brow.

The sword, the banner, and the field,
Glory and Greece around us see;
The Spartan borne upon his shield

Was not more free.

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